TV Review: ‘Titans’ Season 4, Episode 2
by Frank Martin
Right from the start, Titans sets itself up as being edgier and darker then its superhero contemporaries. It features dark storylines and themes as well as language, violence, and sex. But just two episodes in and this season seems to be its darkest yet. There is human sacrifice and murder at every turn. It still tries to keep a lot of lightness and brevity amongst the Titans team, but it’s obvious that this episode dovetailed into straight horror territory. Not that that’s a bad thing. It just means that the rest of the season has to keep up the pace and come up with a satisfying horrific payoff.
This episode dealt with the aftermath of the season premiere’s shocking ending. Connor (Joshua Orpin) was arrested for murdering Lex Luthor (Titus Welliver). Obviously, he didn’t do it, so the rest of the Titans have to head out and look for evidence to clear his name. Their investigation leads to a house, where Raven (Teagan Croft) has to save a young girl stuck in a nightmare with the killer. They follow the trail to a warehouse, where they find people strung up and being drained of blood. Raven defeats the killer, yet the group meets a new threat in the episodes closing moments. This mysterious woman (Franka Potente) dispatches the Titans fairly easily, and leaves Raven seemingly powerless.
Besides being darker than previous seasons, the new year also has the newest addition of Tim Drake (Jay Lycurgo) to the team. Although Tim was introduced last season, he wasn’t actually a Titan. In fact, he’s barely a member of the team now. Yet, his position as a newcomer to the superhero landscape is interesting. It allows the viewer to place themselves in Tim’s shoes as he’s learning about all of this crazy supernatural horror stuff for the first time. It will be interesting to see his character grow over the course of the season and, hopefully, that will be another payoff fans can get excited for.
Titans streams Thursdays on HBO Max.